Haze

To kick off my Easter break I had an after work excursion to Crofton on the far side of Wakefield for my first visit to Nostell Miners Welfare FC.

Welfare were hosting Winterton Rangers in an NCEL Division One fixture. In a typical season they would both be vying for a play-off spot, sitting fourth and fifth in the table, but play-offs have been suspended this year as the FA continues its quest for a perfect football pyramid. The Welfare Ground is a tidy ground and seems to be something of a hub for the village community centre. Welfare dominated the first half and went in a goal up, but Rangers had the better of the second half and ran out 1-2 winners.

I’d arrived a little early so before the match I went exploring in the village and on some of the local paths.  A Titus Salt plaque made it seem a home from home (extras). It was mostly a landscape of wide earth tracks in between fields of yellow oil seed rape, but the ground is only a mile away from the National Trust property at Nostell Priory, and this pond forms the end of the line of lakes that is a feature of that spot. A couple of swans were resident. The hazy sky and time of day made me look for sun dogs, but I just had this pleasant filtered sun to look at.

Earlier, I’d seen Peacock, Comma, Small White and several Speckled Wood (extra) on my lunchtime walk in and around Woodhouse Moor.